He Stayed for Breakfast

"He Stayed for Breakfast" is a strange film with a plot that defies logic. Think about it....the leading man (Melvyn Douglas) in this romantic comedy is a communist agitator! To say this is weird in an American film of the era is an understatement to say the least!

When the film begins, Paul (Douglas) is out trying to recruit folks to join the Communist Party in Paris. Soon after this, as he's working his job as a waiter in a cafe, he loses control of himself and shoots the cup out of the hand of a nasty plutocrat (Eugene Pallette)! Not surprisingly, he's soon a wanted man. And, when he hides out he just happens to pick the apartment of the estranged wife of this rich guy! And, inexplicably, she agrees to hide him from authorities!! Eventually, you KNOW that pair will fall in love...though HOW this could even happen defies common sense.

The plot is insane and you wonder if perhaps the studio head, Roy Cohn, had lost his mind by making such a film! Making it a rom-com is also pretty bizarre...especially with Paul spouting Stalin and Trotsky all the time! How did they expect the American public to embrace this sort of thing?! Now if it had been written well or with SOME subtlety, it could have possibly worked. As it is, it's just a bad, weird film with little to recommend it.